The Active Bogo-Indian Defense by IM Irina Bulmaga

This Energetic And Newbie-Friendly Defense
To 1.d4 Sets You Up For Success
In The Opening And Beyond

If you want an energetic counter to 1.d4, which also steps up your play in the middlegame and beyond…then International Master Irina Bulmaga’s first Chessable course is your perfect starting point.

IM Bulmaga became Romania’s youngest ever Women’s National Champion at 14 years of age. She’s the highest rated female player in her country, and she sits at the #31 spot in the world rankings.

IM Bulmaga’s biggest strength as a professional is her flexible opening play. She’s played just about every major opening variation or system you can think of.

In this repertoire, she revitalizes an old favorite and shows how you can…

Reach Dynamic Positions In The Opening
And Refine Your Strategic Play At The Same Time!

The Active Bogo-Indian Defense meets the classic 1.d4 with the hypermodern 1…Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+.

The lightning-quick development of your kingside means you’re always just a move away from castling to safety. But the biggest perk of the Bogo-Indian is the flexible pawn structure you get.

Holding back your central pawns not only denies the first player of potential targets. You also get to “mold” your structure in a way exploits the weaknesses of the opponent’s setup.

Best part?

Because the Bogo-Indian’s rich structures pave the way to must-know positional themes and maneuvers, your overall decision-making skills also get a massive upgrade!

Fun Fact: When IM Bulmaga built her repertoire against 1.d4, the know-how she gained from the Bogo-Indian Defense made adding the Nimzo-Indian and King’s Indian Defenses to her arsenal a breeze.

Inside The Active Bogo-Indian Defense, you will see spirited strategies for clinching the point, including:

✅ Perfectly timed exchanges on c3 which leave you with a mighty knight on e4. By contrast, the opponent’s bishops sit behind their pawns and struggle to get into the game.

✅ Flexible move orders that neutralize Ne5 attacking ideas…turn up the pressure on White’s d4-pawn…and give you juicy targets on the e-file.

✅ A proven technique for paralyzing White’s structure. From here, you have all the time in the world to gang up on the c4-pawn, and pick it off at the most convenient time.

✅ A surprising capture which undoubles White’s pawns in exchange for effortless development and open lines on the queenside.

✅ The three-move counter to early Bg5 ideas. By the time you’re done, you’d have an iron-grip on the e4-square and a free-range bishop slicing through the a8-h1 diagonal.

✅ A positional pawn sacrifice which gives you excellent attacking chances against the king in the center…as well as long-term pressure against White’s splintered structure.

PLUS, each of the 215 trainable variations ends with a detailed explanation of the best middlegame plans at your disposal.

This way, you can snowball your robust and accurate opening play into an enduring advantage you can “milk” all game long.